The Puget Sound Business Journal has named F5 Networks CEO John McAdam as its 2013 Executive of the Year.

McAdam has been Seattle-based F5’s CEO since 2000, when he helped the company recover from the devastating dot-com bust. Since then, F5 has grown significantly, now employing more than 3,300 people around the world.

F5 makes software and hardware that manages internet traffic in and out of data centers and protects that traffic from cyber attacks. It counts major telecom companies, Facebook and Allrecipes as customers.

Many people drive by F5 headquarters on Elliott Avenue in Interbay, but few people know much about this dot-com survivor and its Scottish-born CEO. Many may not even know F5 was named after the tornado in the 1996 hit film "Twister."

Despite some challenges early this year, F5 has increased its revenue by nearly 127 percent during the past five years, finishing the 2013 fiscal year with more than $1.48 billion. Net profit increased during the same period by nearly 203 percent, ending the 2013 fiscal year with more than $277 million.

In the community, he and his wife, Liz McAdam, support the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

“Competition was particularly strong in 2013 for our Executive of the Year honor,” said Puget Sound Business Journal Publisher Gordon Prouty. “But John’s accomplishments separated him from the crowd. It was for these and other reasons that we decided to recognize him with this annual award.”

The Business Journal plans to publish an in-depth profile of McAdam in the Dec. 20 edition.

The Business Journal for years has recognized the community’s most accomplished and effective chief executives. Previous honorees include chef and restaurateur Tom Douglas of Tom Douglas Restaurants, Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos; Tod Leiweke, former CEO of the Seattle Sounders and the Seattle Seahawks; and Jim Sinegal, former CEO and co-founder of Costco Wholesale Corp.